Good advice about going slow with the tube rolling. I always think it's good to listen to the stock tube sets, in general I find them on target and quite suitable.

Also we all have different rooms, sources, speakers and tastes (or ideas of what is "neutral" perhaps) and one man's recommendation is not necessarily the best for another. I've more often not been crazy about the most popular NOS tubes or even the most recommended tube types. There was a time some years back I got so deeply involved in tube rolling that I lost sight of the basic sound I needed. Tread carefully.

Can't wait until you folk have your amps and are babbling ecstatically about the sound and the music!

I personally prefer the Mini essentially due to the input/output tube voltage regulation stages: Not a trivial enhancement IMHO.

I will definitely break-in the amp in stock configuration first. Probably that will be enough to confirm if the original design voicing suits my tastes/needs/setup. Then, we'll see. I agree with both of you, tube rolling may become an obsession without convergence.

I've noticed the number of M-T units sold per month is lowest relative to the other amps, especially the Torii MKIII and now the SE34i.3. In effect, it is a special niche, both in conception as well as flexibility.

I agree with your bottom line, despite not having tries that particular output tube. I do have a number of 2a3 and 300b amps, all of which use tubes that were enormously more expensive than the more common types around which the Mini Torii was designed. I have done some input/driver stage comparisons and ultimately find the 12AU7 both the most quiet and appropriate in terms of gain. With a small collection of 1920s and 30s radios, I have a source of a few potential output tube candidtes, including yesterdays comparisons between the 6F6 and 6L6. I have done so much tube rolling and amp building in the past 20 odd years that music at times became admittedly subordinate, but the auditions yesterday proved worthwhile, particularly with regard to the 6F6, which I liked very much -- very transparent and clear sounding, with really nice detail. I've used this amp with klipsch La scalas, and my Lowther America Medallion II horns (drivers were recently upgraded to PM5As). Curiously a very, very good match was found between the Mini T. c. late 1970s/very early 1980s Klipsch Heresies. It's the best amp I've used with them. This particular system uses a small, sealed subwoofer to help supplement the lower octaves, and the transformer derived line-level output, which has some good strength to it, drives the sub amp very well. I don't have a schematic for the Mini Torii, but plan on drawing one out long hand in order to build a single channel version of the amp to use as a derived center channel for a third Heresy. It can be attenuated so it is essentially invisible, but does very interesting things, in a good, way for listening. I experimented with this quite a bit in the past and always liked the result. I'm glad you like this great little amplifier! Erik

I am going to go for the Mini Tori. I don't head bang any more and a few good watts is all I need. The H3's are actually very good...there is no 'perfect' speaker. It looks like the Mini has two sets of input jacks and one subwoofer out. Is that correct?

Keeping in mind every impression put forth is subjective, the synergy with the Heresies is very near perfect. But then again, it was also pretty attention grabbing and very musical with our La Scalas. I don't have H IIIs, however. I listen to very different music genres, and can listen intently to classical guitar or acoustic jazz and switch to heavy metal quite comfortably -- and with the harder stuff we go to the La Scalas. For which, based on how good the Mini Torii is, we may be investigating the higher horsepower of its bigger brother. I'm also craving to do another amplifier project, so may end up making something on my own. My feeling, though is that the Zen Torii is a special amp.

Thanks for the tip on the 6f6! Iíll have to pick out a pair and give them a try too. Iím still using the 12at7, but will sub in a 12au7 and several of its variants at some point in the near future. Iím primarily listening to three output tubes now; the 6bg6, the 5992 and the 350b, and each of them sound so good I could just stop here and be happy too. But tube rolling is a whole hobby unto itself!

You are certainly right about the 2a3 and 300b tubes! I do happen to like both of those tubes quite a bit, as well as the 45 and 71a, but the price to value rating is quite low there. Consider that a pair of 1953 new in box Western Electric 300bs sold on eBay last week for a cool $5000 dollars! So one single tube (admittedly the holy grail of the SET world! And possibly a very good financial investment in and of itself) cost more than a brand new Mini Torii complete with a Decware power cord, Decware interconnects and a nice variety of NOS American input and output tubesÖshocking really.

In my experience at least, this little Mini Torii sounds just as good, and in many cases, quite a bit better than any of the other SET amps I have experience with. Overall, I think the output tubeís pedigree becomes less important when it is on a base as solid as this amp is. There are certainly differences in the presentation between one type or even one brand and another, but often those differences are rather subtle and neither can be said to be clearly better or worse. Always it is subjective between listeners, rooms, and other components.

In this amp, it is my feeling that it will be hard to find a compatible tube that sounds bad, and many will find that the stock 6v6 configuration is miles ahead of whatever they may have heard in the past. And we know that the price of a good set of NOS American 6v6, or 6l6, or 6bg6, or 6f6, or 6y6, or 6k6, etc is far less than even a cheap Chinese pair of 300b that may or may not sound good and may or may not last beyond its 30 day warranty.

Just my opinion of course, but I think a lot of the sound quality here has to do with the Decware output transformers, but even more than that I think it is the tube regulation. Iíve had tube regulated power supplies on an amp before, and that makes a big improvement, but what has been done here is certainly a large leap beyond that! At any rate, the wide tube rolling capability, using many tubes that I already owned, combined with a past positive experience with Decware, are the reasons I chose this amp. Iím a tube roller! And for me, this amp offers the ability to have many amps in one package, and they all sound excellent. Very, very nice.

I agree. I have had 300B's 2A3's and 45's all nice but not near as verstile as the Mini. Just bought a pair of Valve Art350B's for $50 delivered. There is a pair of WE 350B on the auction site for a paltry $3000.00.

Do you still have your MHDT Labs DAC? I have a Havana and it is a keeper.